Powered golf caddy cart



Sept. 8, 1959 s. M. MARCUS POWERED GOLF CADDY CART Filed Feb. 1?, 1958 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR. SA MUEL M. MARCUS Sept. 8, 1959 s. M. MARCUS 2,903,082

POWERED GOLFCADDY CART Filed Feb. 1'7, 1958 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INV EN TOR.

5.4 M05 L M MA RGUS United States Patent POWERED GOLF CADDY CART Samuel-M; Marcus, Denver, Colo. Application February 17; 1958; Serial No. 715,637 1 Claim; (Cl. 180-=-'19) Thisinvention relates to a-powergolf-cart; that is, to a self-propelled caddy cart-for carryingthe club bags of golfers. The principal object of the invention is to provide a highly efficient, battery-powered self-propelled golf cart upon which one or more conventional golf club bags may be placedpand which can be conveniently handled by-the golfer as he'walksfrom place to place on the course; and to-providea-cart .of. this nature the speed of which; may be varied to accommodate differing walking speeds.

Another object of theinvention is to so construct the improved power golf K cart-that it can be quickly and easilycollapsedinto a comp-act package for storing or transportation, toso construct the cart that a conventional automotivebattery: may beemployed therein for power: purposes, and to so arrange the cart that the battery. will bequicklyand easily accessible for checking, charging, and replacement.

A furtherobject of-the invention is to provide acaster wheel which will resilientlysupport-the cart, and which will readily follow the-various movements of the cart, and

to PIGVldCJIlZJlSfOI' locking the caster wheel in the straight forwardposition so that one golfer may remove the desired clubfrom his bag, and-then point the cart toward-hisflpartner so that it-willaccuratelytravel in a straighblineto'th epartner todeliver his clubs, even though the two golfers-are separated by a considerable distance. 7 p 7 Other objects andadvantages reside in the detail construction -of'the invention,v which'is designed for sim plicity, economy, and efli ciency. Thesewill become more apparent; from the following description.

In-the-followingdetailed description of the invention, reference is had to the accompanying drawing which forms a part hereof. Like numerals refer'to like-parts in all viewsof the drawing and throughout the description.

In the drawing:

Fig.-1-- is a plan View cart;

, Fig; 2 is aside view thereof;

Fig. 3 is an enlarged fragmentary detail view, illustrating the left side ofa hand grip. withwhich the improved caddy cart is provided;

Fig. 4 =is-a similar view" illustrating the lower extremity of a handle postemployed inthe improved caddy cart;

Fig: S isanenI-arged, fragmentary, plan-view of the rear extremity of the supporting frame of the cart, with its topi'cover plateremoved; I

Figs. 6, 7 and Sare top, side and end'views, respectively, of a seat attachment: with which the improved cart is provided;

Fig. 9- illustrates: the seat' attachment position;

Fig; 10 -is" a ffagm'entary, the line 10"10;= Fig; 2; illustratingaxle mounting of 'the "cart;

of the improved power caddy in the folded horizontal section, taken on he drive axle and Fig. 11 is adetail section through a diiferential gear boxemployed on the cart; and

Fig. 12 is. a circuit diagram of the electriccircuitsem ployed in the improved cart.

The improved power golf cart is constructed about a supporting frame consisting of two substantially. horizontal, spaced-apart, parallel tubular side frame members It joined together at their rear extremities by meansrof' a tubular arcuate frame member 11, and maintained in rigid, spaced relation by means of a cross'frame member 12.

Each of the side frame members 10 is joined-at its forward extremity to an inclined front frame tube: 13 braced from its respective side frame member by means of a diagonal brace tube 14. The two frame tubes-13am joined at their lower extremities by means of a cross tube 16; The upper extremity of each frame tube 13 terminates in a hinge 15.

The rear portion of the supporting frame is covered by means of a fixed cover plate 17 secured to the rear frame member ill in anydesired manner, such as bymeans of suitable screws 18. The forward portion of the supporting frame is covered by means of a hinged cover plate 19. The hinged cover plate is formed integrally with a bag shelf 20 to which it is joined by an inclined front plate portion 2-1. The shelf 20 is-pivotally mounted on the cross frame member 16 so that the entire cover plate may tilt thereon as shown in broken line. at .B in Fig. 2. The sides of the cover portion 19 at th'e rear are formed with spring snap cars 22 which, when th e cover is forced downwardly, snap about the two-"side frame members 10 to retain the hinged cover plate 19in place therein. Both cover plates 17 and 19'have an ornamental convex contour to form a. semi-pyramidal shape as illustrated. An open-topped, sheet metal-bat tery box 23 is suspended between the side frame members It to receive a conventional automotive storage battery 24.

The supporting frame is carried, at its forward extremity, upon two rubber-tired drive wheels 25; each wheel being mounted upon an independent drive axle 30 journalled in a gear box 26. Each gear box may be provided with an electric motor as indicated at 27 and 27 in Fig. 10. If preferred, however, the gearsmay beomitted in one gear box and the two drive axles-30 extended into the other gear box,- as-shown inFig': 11. In the latter case only one motor is required as illustratedat'27 in Fig. 10. The gear box may have any type of speed-reduction-diiferential gearing. As illustratedpthe motor 27 is mounted onthe side of the gear box and drives a'small pinion 28'which rotates a difierentialring gear 29 at reduced speed. The ring gear drives'two' inde# pendent differential gears 31 through the medium of suitableplanet gears 32. Each differential gear is se cured to one of the wheel axles 30 so that the latter shafts may rotate diiferentially.

The supporting frame is resiliently mounted onthegear boxes 26 by means of U-shaped leafsprings 33 secured -at their lower extremities to the tops of the gear boxes 26, and at their upper extremities to the bottoms ofthe side frame members 10. Therear of the supporting-frame is carried upon a rubber tired caster wheel 34 rotatably mounted between the extremities of a U-shaped tilting yoke 35. The two sides of the tiltingyoke aretiltably mounted at 36 to the lower extremities of an" inverted U-shaped caster fork 37.

The weight imparted to the tilting yoke 35 by the fork 37 is resiliently supported upon a tension spring 38" extending between the fork and the yoke. The fork 37" is provided with a pivot stem 39 which is rotatably' mounted in a vertical bearing sleeve 40 formed'on' and extending downwardlyfrom a medially positioned frame plate 41 which is welded or otherwise secured at each of its extremities below the frame members 11 and 12.

The pivot stem 39 is free to rotate in its bearing sleeve 40 to allow the caster wheel 34 to follow the path of the cart. The caster wheel 34, however, can be locked in the straight-ahead position by means of a swingable latch member 42 affixed to and extending downwardly from a latch shaft 43 actuated by the lever 84 and rotatably mounted in a bearing 44 at one side of the frame plate 41. The latch member 42 is arranged to engage a locking notch in the edge of a locking disc 34, secured to and surrounding the stem 39, when the caster wheel 34 is in the straight-ahead position of Fig. l.

The medial frame plate 41 is provided with an elongated socket opening 45 for receiving a flat tongue 46 formed on the lower extremity of a tubular handle post 47, as shown in Fig. 4. The tongue 46 of the handle post 47 can be locked in the opening 45' by means of a latching lever 48 which is urged horizontally into engagement with a notch 49 in the tongue 46 by means of a spring 54). The handle post 47 extends upwardly through a bracing opening in the fixed top plate 17, thence extends rearwardly at substantially 90 to form a substantially-horizontal handle portion 51 terminating in a hand grip 52. It can be seen that the handle portion 51 and the post 47 can be lifted and removed from the cart by simply releasing the latching lever 48.

An inverted, arcuate, U-shaped, tubular bag frame 53 is hingedly mounted at each of its forward lower extremities on one of the hinges so that it may swing from the solid line position in Fig. 2 to the broken line position A therein. The bag frame 53 is turned horizontally rearward at its upper rear extremity and is provided with a clamp block 54 having a hinged clamp bar 55 by means of which the bag frame may be securely clamped to the handle post 47 through the medium of a suitable hand screw 56. The bag frame serves to support one or more golf club bags with their bottoms resting on the bag shelf 20. The bags may be secured in position by means of suitable straps or ties extending through attachment eyes 57 on the bag frame 53.

A horizontal brake rod 58 is rotatably mounted in and extends between bearing straps 59 secured on the gear boxes 26. The extremities of the brake rod are turned in eccentrically-oifset relation with the brake rod 58, and each eccentric extremity supports a brake shoe 60 which can be brought into frictional engagement with the ad jacent drive wheel by simply rotating the brake rod 58 forwardly, or clockwise in Fig. 2. The forward rotation is imparted to the brake rod through the medium of an actuating lever 61 secured to and projecting downwardly from the mid-portion of the rod. A first pull wire 02 extends rearwarcuy rrom the actuating lever 61 to a bell-crank lever 63 pivotally mounted rearwardly of and beneath the battery box 23. The bell-crank lever is rotated through the medium of a second pull wire 64 extending upwardly through the cover plate 17 and terminating in an attachment hook 65. The hook 65 is engageable with a loop formed in the lower extremity of a flexible piano wire 66 which extends upwardly through a flexible sheath 67 into the post 47 and through the handle portion 51, terminating in a hand grip lever 68 adjacent the hand grip 52.

It can be seen that if the hand grip lever 68 is gripped toward the hand grip 52, tension will be applied to the piano wire 66 and, through it, to the connecting pull wire 62 to rotate the brake rod and bring both brake shoes simultaneously against the wheels 25. The brake shoes are constantly and resiliently urged away from. the wheels by means of a suitable tension spring 69. The brake shoes can be locked in the wheel-gripping position by means of a hooked locking dog '76 arranged to engage and retain the grip lever 68 in the gripping position, as shown in Fig. 3.

p The electric current from the battery 24 to the motor 27 is controlled through the medium of a double-throw, single-pole switch 71 mounted on the handle portion 51. The conductors to the switch 71, indicated at 72, extend through the hollow interior of the handle portion 51 and post 47 and terminate in an attachment plug 73 detachably connected to a suitable receiving receptacle in the top plate 17. The top plate 17 is also provided with a charging receptacle 74 to which a conventional battery charging cord may be connected for charging the battery when the cart is not in use.

it will be noted from the diagram of Fig. 12 that the battery 24 is of the l2-volt type and that one throw of the switch 71 is connected to receive the full 12-volts and thatthe other throw of the switch is connected to the 5th battery cell to receive only l0-volts. This enables the speed of the motor 27 to be varied between a slow and a fast speed setting without the use of electrical resistance elements with their attendant current losses.

One of the side frame members 10 is provided with a J-shaped, hooked-flanged receiving clip 75 welded or otherwise secured thereto in alignment with one of the wheels 25. This is for the purpose of receiving a folding seat attachment as shown in Figs. 6 through 9. The seat attachment comprises a seat disc 76 which is hinged at one side to the upper extremity of a vertical link bar 78 having a V-shaped fitting 77 which can be lowered into the clip 75 and which will be retained in place in the clip by the hooked-flanges of the clip. The link bar is hinged at its lower extremity to a lever bar 79 which extends outwardly to hinged connection with the lower extremity of a vertical brace link 80 which is hingedly mounted beneath the center of the seat disc 76. A stop fin 81 carried by the brace link 80 contacts the bottom of the seat when the latter is in the extended position of Fig. 7 to prevent the link 80 from folding beyond the substantially vertical position.

When the seat disc is in the extended or ready for use position, it will occupy the position indicated in broken line at 76 in Fig. 1 and the lever bar 79 will rest upon the tire of the wheel 25, as shown in broken line in Fig. 7, so that the weight of the user will be supported by the wheel and not the supporting frame. The seat attachment can be readily lifted for traveling by simply lifting it to the position of Fig. 9. A finger hook 83 is provided to facilitate lifting the attachment from the clip 75 when desired and a resilient clamping clip 82 mounted on the link bar 78 engages the brace link 30 to support the seat disc in the folded position of Fig. 9. The link 80 is formed slightly longer than the link bar 78, as shown in Fig. 11, so as to prevent the hinged points from aligning in a dead center position which might act to resist unfolding of the linkage.

The operation of the improved cart is believed to be apparent from the above. For storage purposes, the hook 65 can be released from the wire 66, the plug 73 withdrawn from its receptacle, the clamping bar 55 released, and the latching lever 48 withdrawn. The entire post 47 and its attachments can then be lifted from place allowing the bag rack to fold downwardly over the frame into a compact bundle which may be conveniently stored in the luggage compartment of a car.

While a specific form of the improvement has been described and illustrated herein, it is to be understood that the same may be varied within the scope of the appended claim, without departing from the spirit of the invention.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed and desired secured by Letters Patent is:

A powered golf cart comprising: a substantially horizontal supporting frame; drive wheels supporting the forward extremity of said frame; a caster wheel supporting the rear extremity of said frame; a fixed cover plate having an opening therein covering the rear of said frame and spaced upwardly therefrom, a front cover plate hingedly connected to the front of said frame, a socket centrally located in said frame beneath said opening, a handle post having a reduced extremity seated in said socket, and extending through said opening; latch means remov ably securing said extremity in said socket; a handle portion extending rearwardly from the upper extremity of said handle post; an inverted U-shaped bag frame; means hingedly mounting the two extremities of said bag frame at the two sides at the front of said supporting frame, said bag frame extending upwardly and rearwardly; a releasable connection between the upper extremity of said bag frame and said post; a battery supported from said supporting frame; an electric motor connected to drive said drive wheels; a control switch mounted on said handle portion; and an electric circuit including said switch, battery and motor for energizing the latter.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,546,617 Caldwell et a1 July 21, 1925 2,533,549 Bell Dec. 12, 1950 2,586,273 Steven Feb. 19, 1952 2,663,440 Jackson Dec. 22, 1953 2,706,008 Voigt Apr. 12, 1955 2,772,113 Bernard Nov. 27, 1956 2,777,707 Cloes Jan. 15, 1957 2,812,824 Adams Nov. 12, 1957 

